Improvement in grain-binders



L. MILLBR 2 Sheets-Shet @Mmmm No. 198,898.- Patentedlan.1,1 878.

` L. MILLER, 2 sheets-sheen 1.

Grain-Binder.

No.198,898.` Patented Jan. 1,1878.

:Sigi

MPETERS, PKOTO-LITHOGRAFMER, WASHINGTON U C NTED 1 .S TATES i PATENT "FFICEf i LEwIs' MILLER, OEAKEON, OHIO.;

V|MVPRovi-zMENI` I NGRAiN-BINDEBS.

specification forming part of Letters Patent No," 158,898, dated Januaryi, 1ere; appiiwticmmailA 1 June 5, 1875.

Automatic Binder Attachments; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact. description of the same, reference being had 4to the accompanying drawings,

making a part of this specification, in which-- Figure 1. represents, in perspective, a harvesting-machine, with the automatic binderl attachments arranged thereon. Figs. 2 and 3 represent details of the machine, which will be hereinafter more fully referred to. Fig; 4represents a plan of the under side of the`machine5 and Figs. 5 and 6 represent details of the bindin g mechanism,l on an enlarged scale, to

more clearly show the construction and mode` o f operation thereof. 5

My invention relates to' the several 'mechanisms hereinafter more fully set forth 5 but which may be enumerated or mentioned as follows, to wit: A finger-bar hinged to the front of the platform, so that such fmger-barmay rise and Vfall without materially affecting the platform 5 a tongue pivoted to the main frame, and

further connected thereto by a link and crank, so that through the intervention of a ratchet,

pawl, and lever, said main frame may be ad-l justed to or on thetongue, and the latter be made loose orrigid, as may be required; a

' gathering mechanism, which takes'the grain bundle.; an arm for carrying the rope or band around the gavel, which armA has its center Vof rotation at or near the center of the diameter of the gavel, an'd placed at either theheads or butts ofthe gavel 5 Ia segmentalarm compressor,` which isopen as the 'rake-arm moves across the platform to gather the grain, and Vwhen so gathered, said 'arm closes and becomes a coinpressor to the bundle forming the gavel; the

combination of a' nonrotatin g compressorv with the revolving straw-rope band-'twister 5 the arrangement of the springs within the jaws of the. compressor, to `make such compressor adaptable to gavels of differentsizes 5 a yielding twister, that will adapt itself togavels or: bundles of different' sizes Orcircumference 5 mechanism for throwing open and'closing the compressor at suitable intervals-5 -mechanism vfor rotating the twister at proper intervals 5 mechanism :for moving the straw into the com` presser; mechanism for binding a bundle or' gavel into a sheaf while said bundle or lgavel is being moved from ywhere -it drops-upom-to where it isdelivered from, the platform 51a vertically andre'arwardly inclined ledge behind the fingergbar, 4for the gatherer to move under Aand insure the taking of all of the straw.-

VTo enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to de'- scribe the same with reference yto the drawings. v

The main frame, the driving and supporting wheels, the seat, 'and the platform vmay beof any of the usual well-known kind. The plat'- form is connected tothe front and rear of the. main frame by thev hinged coupling-arms A B. The tongue C is hinged-to the main frame, as ata, Fig. 3, and it is further connected to said main frame by alink, b, one end of which `is pivoted to the tongue andthe other end'to ya crank, c, placedon the-axis Vof the segment'd,

to which segment a hand-lever, D, and a latchlever, e, are connected, saidlatchlever workin g. with atoothed segment which is rigid upon,

while the segment dis pivoted` to, the main 5 frame. A chain,- f, Fig. 1,eXtends from the segment d to the coupling-arm A,.to raise,

hold up, or let down'tlie cutting apparatus. f

When the latchll'evere is'between the teeth of the rigid toothed segment, the pole or tongue is rigid. .When releasedfrom the'segment, the .tongueis loose, and can work upon its pivot af.

The finger-bar Eishinged to the platform, f as at y y, so that it may be raised, lowered, or i hind or under which the gatherer (tobe here'f inafter described) may pass orvmove, to ins'ure -is placed a bevel-gear, F, which runs a pinion,

G, upon a shaft, i, that passes through a hollow frame-piece, H, there being a clutch, j, yarranged for throwing the gear F into or out of connection with the pinion G, the lever for operating said clutch projecting through the iioor of the machine, as at lf, Fig. l. The driven shaft i connects through a toggle-link, Z, with a shaft, m,supported in suitable bearings underneath the platform and upon the end rof this shaft m there is a bevel-pinion underneath the shield Lwhichpinio'n gearsinto` they crown bevel-wheel. J, moving around a shaft', n', that projects up through the platform;.'and through this driving and driven mechanism the gathering Aand ybindin g devices are all operated. f

On the bevel-wheel J, that moves around the studi or shaft n, and on top of the platform, there is secured a radial arm, o,to which the gathering, clamping, and carrying mechanism is attached, and bywhich said mechanism is operated, as followsz- At' or nearvthe extreme outer end ofthe radial arm o there is arranged in suitable bearings' a vertical, orV nearly so, shaft, p, which has upon its lower end a pinion', g, which, as thev arm o, attachedv to the wheel J, moves around the 'studl or shaft n,

gearsl into the circularI rack K, permanently' v xed on the platform, and receives a rotating motion thereby. yOn the top of the shaft p there is a bevel-gear, r, that meshes with a b eVeLgear, s, on the end of a horizontal shaft,

t, supported in aframe-work, u, which is also attached to and' carried around by the radial arm o. v l

To the frame u; is hingedv the gathering and clamping mechanism, consisting of the hinged segments l 2 3 4, within which there are a series of compensating springs, 5, that admit of uniform, or nearly so,'pressure upon gavels or bundles of differing sizes. On the arm o, as seen at n, there is pivoted a bell-crank lever, w, which has upon its short arm a friction-roll, 6,-that runs in or against stationary camways LM on the platform, giving said lever'a vibratory` motion upon its pivot. To the long arm ofthe bell-crank is attached one end of a connecting-rod, 7, the opposite end of which is-attachedA to the tail-pieceS of the segment 1, and through this mechanism the segments are opened and closed to deliver the bound gundle, and to receive the next gavel for being ound.

Upon the outer end of the shaft tthere is a gear-wheel, N, that meshes with and turns another gear, 0, which is-fastened uponits shaft J a', which shaft passes through the hub or center of a stationary gear, P, fastened to the frame u; and on the inner side of the gear P and upon the shaft m of the "gear O there is jattached a crank-arm, y, to the outer end of which is hinged a hollowr shaft or sleeve, z, through which passes a shaft, q, upon one end of which there is apinion, c', that rolls around the perimeter of the stationary gear P, and iu mesh with its cogs, by which said pinion a and its shaft q receive a planetary motionviz.,a' very rapid rotation around about its own axis, and a less rapid one about the axis of the stationary gear P. The outer end of the shaft q has upon it the twister or band-former b', said twister having two catches or take-ups, c of, so that it takes up two strands of straw from the bundle that is being bound without drawing them out of the bundles, and twists these two strands into a rope, which rope is fastened to the bundle, and may pass entirely around the vbundle one or more times, and the end-be tucked in or under the sheaf, if found. necessary to do so; but the rope could notfwell become loosened, as it is woven in with the straw of the bundle all the way around, or atvery @short intervals.

The outer hinged segments 2 and 4, without suitable appliances, would beloos'e and ineffi- ,cient for closing upon and holding thel bundle' while it is vbeing carried around and bound; and for this purpose braces or hinged arms d d extend from thev rear beyond or past the hinges of said two outer segments, and are .fastened-to them beyond their hinges, and' these holding said segments inward, and the springs 5 pressing them outward, keep them in efficient working position.

The arm 4 of the clamping and carrying mechanism is, while it is passing along lthe front ofthe platform, they gathering device also, as lit moves close to, behind, or under the ledge h, and moves the grain in advance of itself toward the outer 'side of the platform. But this arm 4, though it moves the grain along, cannot of itself place thegavel withinthe clamping arms or segments, and to accomplish this end another mechanism is necessary, which I shall now describe. To the under side of the platform is pivoted a lever, the upper end e ofwhich projects through the platform, in a slot made therethrough, said lever e standing' in the path or sweep of the radial arm Ao, so as to be struck by said arm and vi brated on its pivot at proper intervals lor at a suitable time in the operation. To the lowerend of this lever e', and underneath the platform, is fastened a connecting-bar, Q, Fig. 4,

which is attached to a radius-arm, It, pivoted at f to the under side of the platform. At the outer end of this radius-arm R a curved slot, g', is cut through the platform, through which passes the lower end of a wing, S, Fig. 1, that is above the platform, and is fastened to the radius-arm R. This wing S, and the shield or guard T connected to it and to theV outside grain-board, are kept closeto said grainboard by a reactionary spring, h', underneath the platform. When, however, the arm 0 strikes and vibrates the lever e', the wing S the grain into the compressor, the; latter ,i immedi.

turning to its original position'.` .At .thexin-. stant that the compressor closes `upon the gavel the gear@ .has reached the rack K and the twister is set in motion, spinning its rope out of the straws of the bundle,. andparrying it around lthe bundle,.;so,;tl1 at -fby the time the compressor has', reached"the point U of the platform the gear q has run out of the pose, and the compressor has been opened and the bound bundle delivered upon the ground, and the next succeeding similar operation is gone through with.

The twister-shaft, it will be perceived,as in Fig. 5, stands at quite an acute angle in relation to the plane of the wheel P, from which it is rotated, and it is held in this position by a spring, fi', which, however, yields, so that, whatever difference there may be in the sizes of the bundles, the twister accommodates itself to them, and the pinion a can always roll around the perimeter of the gear P, while the twister will follow the circumference of the bundles, which vary in size. The center of the gear P may represent the center of the bundles to be bound, and the center of this gear'P is also .the center of rotation of the arm which carries the twister, and also carries the band or rope around the gavel,

` On the frame u, that supports the gatherer, compressor, and twister, there is pivoted a lever, j', Fig. 5, to the upper end of which is fasten'ed a tucker, c; and as said compressor moves around over the platform, and the twister has finished weaving its rope or band around the bundle, and ceased revolving as its driving-pinion q has run out of the rack K, the lower end of said lever j strikes against a projection, m', on the rack or platform, and causes the tucker 7a to push the end of the rope or band into the bomid bundle, and hold it from slacking or becoming loose. v

The iinger-bar' E, as heretofore described, is hinged to the front of the platform. The outside divider U', grain-board V, and supporting-wheel W, being attached to the finger-bar, must move with the finger-bar and independent of the platform 5 and to form this hinged connection, so that no joint will be left into which the straws would work, a shield, X, is attached to the divider or grain-board, which extends back of and covers said joint, as seen in Fig. 2. y Y

A shield, Y, (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1,) stands over the driving-arm o and cams L M, it being attached to the top of the post u, which is stationary 5 and a portion of this shield Y is hinged, so that it may swing out of the way when the gatherer and compressor pass by it, and be returned again to its position by aspring after the compressorhas passed it. Nearly the whole of the twister drivingincasedjto :pre/vent :straws from winding upon-ita.; Y atel-yv closing-uponithe..gavel, andthe wing, re

It is unnecessary .to describe in detail how 'these several mechanisms: are. timed so as to act onbepassivaasthe case maybe,but in gen.; eral togstatethat when vthe machine isworking l inthe.iield,thegatherer,compressor,and deliv- 'i erer are always inl-motion, except wh en thrown l out bythe clutchI j. 'I hefcompressorgripes ythe gavehtli'eiinstantthat the -latter is pushed within its .jawslor segments,land holds it in rack K, the twister has accomplished its purbundle form. The twister or spinner is now set in motion, and passes twice around the circumference of the bundle (or more times, if necessary) before the pinion q runs through the rack K. When the twister or spinner stops, the tucker pushes the end of the band or rope into the bundle, the segments open, and the bound bundle is dropped. The arm 4 then commences to move the grain across the platform.v The wing S starts, pushing the grain within the influence of the segments or compressing-arms, where it is seized, held, carried around, bound, and delivered, as above stated. The compressor, though revolving in a horizontal path over the platform, does not revolve the bundle around its own center'. On the contrary, the bundle is not revolved about Yits own axis, but is heldrigid while being bound, the twister performing the axial rotation to carry the band around the bundle.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I cla-im is- 1. The combination of the segmental arms l 2 3 4, to gather the grain from the platform in a bundle or gavel, and then to compress and` hold it in bundle form until it is bound during .its passage over the platform, substantially as described.

2. In combination with the gatherer, com' pressor, and carrier, the twister or spinner b', geared to rotate one or moretimes around the bundle, for forming a two-strand rope or band from the straw held by the gatherer, substantially as described.

3. In combination with the compressor and .twister or spinner, the arm z, which has its center of rotation at or near the center of the diameter of the gavel, for forming the band around the gavel, as and for the purpose described.

4. The cam-guide on the platform, in combinaticnwith the segmental-arm compressor, and the `jointed-lever connection, for opening and closing said arms at stated intervals, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the segmental gathering and compressing jaws with the revolving straw-rope bandtwister, substantially as described.

6. The jointed-arm compressor, combined' with springs attached to each segment, and

overlapping each other, so as to cover thejoints and present a continuous yielding sur face to the gavel, substantially as described.`

7. In combination with theinwardly-inclined twister and the crank-arm which carries it around, the hinge in the crank-ar1n and the spring i, crossing said hinged connection, so that the twister may yield and'conform to the diEering-sized. gavels, substantially asl described.

8. In combination with the twister, the.

10. The combination ofthe rack K, arranged on the surface of the platform, With the cam` M L, also arranged on the platform, and With the shaft and gears for operating the binding mechanism, and VJche compressor and jointed levers for compressing the gavel, substantially as described.

d' LEWIs MILLER.

I Witnesses: 'Y Y NERI NEWGOLIB, S. P. WALLACE. 

